Renaissance
by fieldagent85
Summary: Nora and Stan continue their trip down memory lane, sharing both secrets and regrets. Postep for 2.08: Something New


As Bob Dylan continued to score their evening, Nora and Stan continued their dialogue. It was amazing, and thoroughly surprising, that forty years could pass and not one of them had affected their ability to connect on a very human level. Nora had of course been able to talk to her husband, and he to her, but they lacked the skill of being able to truly understand each other. What made their marriage work, fortunately, was their willingness to try, and love despite their differences. Stan was much easier.

"You know," Stan said. "When the war ended and I came home, the first thing I did was look you up. But I couldn't find you, of course. I found Saul. And he broke the bad news."

"Which was?"

"You were married. That's why I couldn't find you. You were married and you'd already had four children."

Nora smirked. "Yeah, I was something of a machine for awhile there."

"Saul said I should visit anyway, that I should stop by. But I couldn't just…stop by."

"You should have," Nora replied, sincerely.

"I didn't think I could stand it, walking in on this life you had built with someone else."

The sadness in his eyes reminded her of the sadness in hers the day he chose Canada over her.

"I'd have built it with you if you hadn't left."

Stan nodded, neither in agreement nor dissent. "Did you love him?"

Nora smiled nostalgically. "Yes."

"You were happy?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

This satisfied Stan, for if he could not have been the one to make her happy, he was glad someone had. The alternative was unthinkable.

"If it makes you feel any better," Nora said with a half-smile. "I think my mother hated William even more than she hated you."

"And your father?"

"Well, my father hated you because he thought you were going to take away his little girl. But then William went ahead and asked me to marry him before asking Dad's permission, and that was the moment I think he decided he was far more fond of you than he was of William. Come to think of it, he never forgave him for that. He held that, what he considered a presumptuous beach of trust, against William until the day he died."

Stan laughed. "There's a code among men, I think. It's considered an act of good faith, and just common courtesy, to request the blessing of a man before commandeering that man's daughter."

Nora shrugged. "William later said he didn't ask Dad's permission first because he was afraid of what would happen if Dad said yes, and then I said no."

"A valid fear, I suppose. But you said yes."

"Without hesitation."

Stan nodded, silently considering what might have occurred had he asked Nora first.

"And what did _he_ think of me? William."

Nora hesitated. "He…thought you were kind of a bum. You have to understand, William was about as patriotic and gung-ho about war as you can get. He spent the first year of our marriage in Vietnam."

"Sounds like one hell of a honeymoon."

"Yeah," Nora sighed. "The first month after he left, I found out I was pregnant. He wrote me everyday- beautiful,beautiful love letters, but those months I was pregnant with Sarah were the loneliest of my life. He didn't get back until about a month after she was born. A month after that I was pregnant again, with Kitty. And then two years later came Tommy, and Kevin two years after that."

"Four kids in five years. Impressive," Stan commented.

"Yeah."

"And Justin?"

Nora smiled. "Eight years after that. My favorite mistake."

"And Rebecca?"

"Perhaps William's least favorite mistake." She paused. "He cheated on me. For twenty years."

Stan's eyes widen, his jaw nearly dropping. "You're kidding."

"I wish."

"Nora, I'm so sorry."

"Oh, don't be. I never felt it. He was just as attentive to me as he always was, not a thing changed between us. He was very, very good at what he did."

Stan regarded her sympathetically. "I wanted so much more for you."

Nora shrugged. "I got five, six kids, and a forty year marriage. I think I did all right."


End file.
